This invention relates generally to a therapeutic device for reducing periodically or eliminating the deleterious effects caused from bone joint diseases such as arthritis, bursitis and the like, and specifically to a therapeutic device which provides for the application of concentrated alternating electromagnetic energy, mechanical vibrational energy, and thermal energy to a localized area of the body such as bone joints of a hand, arm and the like.
The use of electromagnetic energy and magnetic energy alone as a therapeutic aid for various types of diseases occuring to various mammals is well known in the prior art. A vast spectrum of various diseases has been purported to be reduced or totally eliminated by several of these devices. In U.S. Pat. No. 3,658,051, issued to MacLean, a method of treating living things using high intensity pulsating magnetic fields is shown. The method is alleged to be effective for curing a plethora of varying diseases by applying a unidirectional pulsed magnetic field to the particular part of the body that is ailing. In the instant invention, Applicant has discovered that the application simultaneously of concentrated, magnetic field energy which is alternating in direction at a low frequency in combination with mechanical vibration which vibrates the joint area and heat application to the body will reduce the symptomatic effects of arthritis, rheumatism, rheumatoid-arthritis, osteoarthritis, radiohumeral bursitis, and other similar disorders related to the musculoskeletal and connective tissues.
The device includes an electromagnet having a core which is designed to intensify the flux lines by concentrating them into a central supporting area which has connected thereacross an elasticized band having a pair of ceramic permanent magnets, one on each side of the band supporting therein. An alternating current applied to the coil of the electromagnet generates an alternating magnetic field that vibrates the permanent magnets, producing mechanical vibration across the elastic band which can be utilized to engage the skin area surrounding the particular joint or tissue being subjected to the intensified field. Furthermore, heat is generated by the electromagnetic field in combination with the core due to hysterisis caused by the alternating magnetic field.
The instant invention has been applied to several patients and the results have demonstratively shown the effectiveness of the device. In specific cases, long time sufferers of severe arthritis and vertebrae problems have recovered for periods of months with periodic treatment.